Final: Nets 123, Celtics 104- C's play like turkeys, get stuffed by Brooklyn

Game 19: Boston Celtics (10-8, 6th East) vs. Brooklyn Nets (13-5, 1st East)
TD Garden
7:30 PM - ESPN

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Grant Williams

Brooklyn: James Harden, Patty Mills, DeAndre’ Bembry, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Jaylen Brown (right hamstring) is available tonight for Boston. That doesn’t mean his return is solidified.

“Status is pretty much day to day going forward,” Ime Udoka said before the game. “Questionable for the next week or so. Just see how his body reacts to the minutes he's playing. So we have to hope that he plays well. He felt decent yesterday, but there's going to be some natural soreness and stiffness coming back and jumping into those minutes in real game action.”

- Robert Williams and Josh Richardson (non-COVID illness) are out.

- Bruce Brown (left hamstring tightness), Nic Claxton (non-Covid illness), David Duke Jr. (left hip flexor tendinopathy), Joe Harris (left ankle sprain) and Kyrie Irving (not with team) are out for Brooklyn

- This is a matchup of two of the worst fourth-quarter teams in the league. Boston’s net rating of -14.9 is the worst, while Brooklyn’s -10.3 is fourth-worst.

- Brooklyn is favored by 1

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Ime Udoka is facing his former team, the Nets, with whom he was an assistant coach last year. That institutional knowledge gives him a little more information than a normal scouting report.

“You know their tendencies,” he said. “So, our dialogue with the players is from first-hand experience. Will Hardy coming over and coaching Patty (Mills) and we’re really digging into the personnel and the things we want to take away and myself working with all these guys. And so, it’s a little more detailed.”

Mills and Hardy were together in San Antonio last season. Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash, unsurprisingly, downplays the connection. 

“I think everyone in this league knows what everyone’s doing,” Nash said. “It’s not that simple. Also, I think you’ve got to be confident in what you do. It doesn’t matter if they know. Who still can execute, who still can play good basketball regardless of what they do. They take one thing away, you go to something else. That’s the nature of the game. I don’t read too much into those things. I think it’s so advanced these days with how we scout and how much information we get. That’s not a huge thing I don’t think.”

Udoka has especially inside knowledge of LaMarcus Aldridge, who has filled a great role for the Nets. Udoka and Aldridge were teammates in Portland during Udoka’s rookie season. He also coached Aldridge in Brooklyn last season. 

“He’s been great. Accepted a role that he’s not used to,” Udoka said. “He brings a different dynamic to their team. He’s a veteran that they trust. I know Kevin (Durant) and James (Harden), they were recruiting him to get him there and bring him back and so he’s been doing a great job.”

Aldridge is averaging 15.9 points in wins, less than half that in losses. Without Irving, the Nets do have a scoring hole that needs to be filled somehow. Aldridge is crushing it from midrange, thriving in the wake of Durant and Harden attention. 

Of course, the Nets have institutional knowledge of Udoka. While no one really knew what he’d be as a head coach, his defensive ideas were integral to the Nets scheme. They know what he’s thinking, and his influences.

“He’s done it and seen it for a long time at a high level,” Nash said. “He’s been able to work for Pop and the Spurs and also have that experience of going against different teams throughout the league year after year after year you start to pick up and understand the language of the league, the styles, the difference between teams and clubs and that experience coupled with his playing background and his personality, great characteristics for a future head coach for success. I thought it was a no-brainer to hire him.”

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Frustrating Harden: The Celtics have to pick their poison and it’s pretty obvious that Durant is only going to stop himself most nights. Harden, though, has a history of Marcus Smart getting under his skin. If Smart is allowed to be physical, and if the Celtics can keep their rotations tight behind the play, then it’s possible they can lure Harden into some frustration mistakes.

2. RUN! [Tommy Heinsohn voice]: The Nets give up easy points in transition (23rd in the NBA in opponent points off turnovers, 29th in fastbreak points). They’re also soft in the middle (15th in opponent points in the paint), so dust off the Lakers gameplan and go at them early and often. Force them to help and move the ball to get easy opportunities.

3. Jaylen Brown’s hamstring: He was cleared to play, so let’s see how much it limits him tonight. He clearly wasn’t moving entirely well but still had enough in the tank for a game-changing offensive explosion. Can he do it on both ends tonight?

GAME THREAD

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